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distance from Istanbul, is as follows: 1)
characters from Anatolia, namely Laz (from
the Black Sea region), from Kastamonu,
from Kayserili, from Eğin, from Harput, and
the Kurdish, and
2) characters out of Anatolia, namely
Muhacir (the immigrant, from Rumelia), the
Albanian, the Arabic and the Persian. 41
People coming from or out of Anatolia
“do not have specific characteristics as
individuals.” 42 During the play, we do not
obtain sufficient information about their
childhood, families, hobbies, fears, passions
or weaknesses. We do not have the chance
to get to know them. We know nothing of
their pains or joys.
In both traditional theatres, individuals are
treated as types, not real characters. They
represent the most typical characteristics
of the ethnicity or geographical region they
belong to. Over time, they have become
stereotypes that produce comic effects.
These types are illustrated in the way the
nation they represent is seen from Istanbul,
from the Ottoman perspective. For instance,
“Laz (the one from the Black Sea region)
is chatty and hasty, the Persian is an
exaggerator, the Jew is cowardly and fond of
money”. 43
This is a contemptuous point of view. When
we categorize people in this fashion, we
cannot know them sufficiently. People we
do not know do not arouse sympathy. We
cannot empathize with them or feel their
pain. We do not feel pity, we just laugh at
them.
Their function in plays is to serve as comic
relief. The comic situation sometimes
results from the communication gaps
40 Metin And, Geleneksel Türk Tiyatrosu [Traditional Turkish Theatre], (Istanbul: İnkılap Kitabevi Yayınları, 1985), p. 459-462
41 Metin And, Geleneksel Türk Tiyatrosu [Traditional Turkish Theatre], (Istanbul: İnkılap Kitabevi Yayınları, 1985), p. 461.
42 Cevdet Kudret, Ortatoyunu I, 2nd ed., (Istanbul: İnkıilap Kitabevi Yayınları, 1994), p. 62
43 Cevdet Kudret, Ortatoyunu I, 2nd ed., (Istanbul: İnkıilap Kitabevi Yayınları, 1994), p. 62
between two people. At times, two or three
characters are ridiculed from the Istanbul
point of view. In these plays, there may be
Turkish characters because the Turk is also
considered “other.”
This point of view had a determining role
in the Ottoman Empire, before trucks were
invented, and continued its dominant role
after the invention of trucks and the rise of
the transportation of luxury goods to the
modern Republic of Turkey. In plays inspired
by the traditional Turkish theatre, written
before Baydur’s play Kamyon, in films that
were products of Yeşilçam cinema and in
television sketches, people originating from
said regions have always been treated as
comedic character sketches.
What Ortaoyunu and Karagöz have created
is comedy. “Whichever theme it deals with,
the main characteristic of a Karagöz play
are funny. Even the most tragic stories (such
as that of Ferhad and Şirin) acquire a comic
tone in Karagöz.” 44 The same applies to
Ortaoyunu as well.
As Bergson notes, humor is a product of
intelligence and “demands something like
a momentary anesthesia of the heart.” Our
hearts have been silent to these people
for centuries, and they have been the
genesis of our entertainment. We had to
wait for Memet Baydur’s pen to open the
conversation in a different way.
A Play That Inverted the Point of View in
Karagöz and Ortaoyunu: Kamyon
(The Truck).
It is obvious that Memet Baydur was
inspired by Karagöz and Ortaoyunu when
writing his play Kamyon. Above all, it is
mainly the characters in his play who were
inspired by Karagöz and Ortaoyunu.
In Kamyon, Baydur does not copytraditional
theatre; he does not completely import
traditional elements, but questions and
moves away from a prejudiced point of
view. Although he selects the characters in
Kamyon from ethnic regions represented in
traditional theatre, he adopts a more tender
and democratic attitude towards them.
In Kamyon, we do not see the main
characters of Ortaoyunu and Karagöz,
namely Pişekar and Kavuklu – Karagöz
and Hacivat. The play features traditional
characters of different ethnic origins and
geographies, but shows them from a
different point of view. In the play, Abuzer is
a Kurdish man, 45 Şaban is from the Black
Sea Region (Laz), Necati and Recep are
from Central Anatolia (they may be from
Kayseri), and Zeynel and Zülfü are from the
Aegean Region. 46 Thus, these characters
are from four different regions (East
Anatolia, Black Sea, Central Anatolia and
Aegean) and of three different ethnic origins
(Turkish, Kurdish and Laz).
When integrating these characters into
his play, Baydur adopts a critical approach
to the established Ottoman viewpoint
and attempts to approach them with a
consciousness of class arising from a
socialist worldview. 47 Necati is a truck
43 Cevdet Kudret, Karagöz, Vol. I, 1st ed., (Istanbul;Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2004), p. 27.
44 Elveda Dünya ve Merhaba Kainat, Memet Baydur’un Ardından [Goodbye World, Hello Universe, In Memory of Memet Baydur],
Ed: Sevda Şener, Ayşegül Yüksel and Filiz
45 Elmas, 1st ed., (Istanbul: MitosBoyut Yayınları, 2002), p. 66.
46 Memet Baydur, Toplu Oyunları 3 [All Plays 3], 1st ed., (Istanbul: Mitos Boyut Yayınları, 1994) p. 158.
driver, Recep is the driver’s assistant,
Abuzer and Şaban are porters, and Zülfü
and Zeynel are farmers. 48 They are all
laborers.
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All six characters are village people who
are desired by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
to become “masters of the nation,” but,
instead, have become “slaves of the nation”
due to constraints of a “social state” in the
Republic, which he established. Necati,
Recep, Abuzer and Şaban “have preserved
their peasantry diligently - although they
work with urban people and have long lived
in the suburbs of the city.” 49 Zülfü and
Zeynel are countrymen who come from the
village of Yanbolu. 50
While carrying goods from Gaziantep to
Istanbul (from one end of Anatolia to the
other) with a large new red truck 51 (might
it be the Turkish Republic?), they somehow
lose their way. They arrive near Denizli
in the Aegean Region, which is far out of
their way. Moreover, while trying to take a
shortcut, they get stranded in a desolate
area where there are only four trees. The
existence of trees evokes a feeling that the
situation is not desperate after all, alluding
to production, abundance and blessing.
The truck had been traveling east to west –
which may represent the young Republic of
Turkey, eager to be westernized.
Wondering why the brand new truck got
lost and broke down, we find that the play
was written in 1990. This is not surprising;
1990 was the year when Baydur finished
writing the play. 52 His writng must have
taken place before 1990.